CBD for Insomnia [Explore Which Oils Work]

October 31, 2017

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If you toss and turn for what seems like hours in a futile attempt to sleep, you’re not alone. According to the Better Sleep Guide, approximately 30% of the American population suffers from insomnia. Almost half the population loses sleep due to stress and anxiety, and we sleep 20% less on average than people 100 years ago.

There is a myriad of possible reasons; the proliferation of technology added stress due to a competitive work environment and less than ideal diet and exercise regimes. The CDC says we need at least 7 hours of sleep a night and there is new evidence emerging that CBD could be just the ticket to help with your insomnia.

Traditional Insomnia Treatments & Their Side Effects

There’s no question that chronic insomnia (difficulty sleeping three times a week for three or more months) can cause major health issues such as:

Poor memory

Daytime sleepiness

Increased accidents or mistakes

An inability to focus

Fatigue

According to Sleep Education, the American workforce lost $63 billion in terms of ‘work performance’ in 2013, a figure that rises each year. In a desperate attempt to get enough rest, millions of Americans turn to pharmaceutical sleep aids.

The first and usually the only, port of call is a sleeping pill which is usually effective in a short-term sense only. The technical name for sleeping pills is ‘sedative hypnotics’ and include benzodiazepines and barbiturates. The most common benzodiazepines include:

Xanax

Ativan

Valium

Librium

The above are classified as anti-anxiety medications and are designed to increase drowsiness and make it easier to get to sleep. One of the main problems with benzodiazepines is that they cause side effects such as issues with memory and attention. They are also known be to extremely addictive. If you take them too often, you’ll become completely reliant on them and be unable to sleep via any other means.

Barbiturates are designed to depress your central nervous system and lead to sedation. These are extremely strong ‘hypnotic’ drugs that are potentially fatal if you take an overdose.

There are a number of new sleep medications such as Sonata, Ambien, and Lunesta. They bind to the same receptors in the brain as benzodiazepines, and while they are less addictive, they can still lead to dependence.

How Can CBD Help With Insomnia?

Cannabis has been used as a sleep aid for centuries, and it is also effective when it comes to reducing anxiety and stress. Scientists identified the first cannabinoid in the 1960s and have identified over 80 more since. THC and CBD are the two best known; the former is renowned for its psychoactive ‘high’ while CBD has been heralded as an effective medicinal tool due to the lack of ‘high.’

To date, scientists have found that CBD interacts with a variety of receptors, proteins, and chemicals in the brain. The result of these interactions is a raft of changes in how hormones, neurotransmitters, and cells work. It seems as if CBD is capable of having an impact on several body functions including the sleep-wake cycle.

The Research

One of the most recent studies relating to CBD and sleep was published in Pub Med by Babson, Sottile, and Morabito in 2017. The conclusion was that CBD potentially has therapeutic potential for the treatment of insomnia. It could also assist with REM sleep behavior disorder and daytime sleepiness. Interestingly, the study also found that THC could impair sleep quality in the long-term even though it decreases sleep latency.

This follows on from a variety of studies on rats including one by Hsiao et al. which was published in Neuropharmacology in 2012. The conclusion was that CBD could help to block anxiety-induced REM sleep because of its anxiolytic effect.

Perhaps one of the biggest ‘plus points’ with CBD for insomnia is that it helps wean people off addictive medication without carrying any addictive properties of its own. According to a 2017 study by Brightfield Group and HelloMD, people who use CBD are more likely to drop their traditional medicine.

The study looked at 2,400 members of the HelloMD community, and the most common reasons to use CBD included treating insomnia, pain, and anxiety. 42% of CBD users admitted that they stopped using medications such as sleeping aids or painkillers and used cannabis instead. An incredible 80% of users said CBD products were very or extremely effective while only 3% believed that CBD offered no help for their condition.

The main issue at present is that cannabis users believe that CBD products derived from marijuana are more potent and effective than CBD taken from hemp plants. This is a problem because marijuana is only legal in a handful of states. In contrast, hemp products are legal all across the United States. It was also interesting to note that cannabis users spent between $20 and $80 a month on CBD products. This price compares favorably with the cost of most prescription medications and users benefit from a lack of side effects.

What CBD Oils Should You Choose For Insomnia?

In an ideal world, you would be able to purchase CBD from marijuana plants, but it is an impossibility unless you live in a state where medicinal marijuana is legal. Otherwise, you must rely on hemp-based products. With hundreds of CBD products coming from hemp available today, you need a service that helps you find the best quality oils and edibles from reputable companies. We’re proud to offer that service. Check out which CBD oils work on our CBD Oils for Insomnia Comparison Chart

Final Thoughts on CBD for Insomnia

It appears as if the stereotypical view of a ‘stoner’ collapsing on a sofa after smoking a few joints isn’t a million miles from the reality. However, it is fascinating to learn that products with THC are less effective at helping people beat insomnia than items containing CBD.

Research is still in its early stage, but there is a lot to be said for falling back on an all-natural, non-addictive way to help you fall asleep.

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About the Author

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Jonathan Miller
Jonathan Miller, age 53 is an Ex Railyard Engineer who suffers from chronic back pain and anxiety. Jonathan's goal was to create an unbiased site that would provide anyone who seeks help in CBD oil as a treatment, with accurate and helpful information.

Getting Started with CBD Oil

If you suffer from anxiety (like me), depression or pain and are looking to get started with CBD oil, you need information on how to buy CBD oil, or you’re simply looking to learn more about CBD products, you’ve arrived at the right place.

What is CBD?

Cannabidiol, aka CBD, is a compound found in the cannabis plant that has significant medical benefits. CBD can be extracted from two different species of the Cannabis Sativa L plant, which include Cannabis and Hemp. Unlike its rival THC, CBD does not make people feel “stoned” and can actually counteract the psychoactivity of THC.

One of the main advantages of CBD is its non-psychoactive affect making it a great option for people looking for relief from inflammation, anxiety, insomnia, seizures, spasms, and other conditions.

As I mentioned above the primary distinction between Hemp and CBD oil is the part of the plant they are derived from and what parts of the plant are used to create the oil. Hemp oil is typically made from pressing cannabis seeds to extract the fatty oil from within, while some that have mastered the CBD extraction process also use the flowers as they contain high percentages of CBD. CBD oil, on the other hand, is usually made from the flowers of cannabis plant through various extraction methods.

How Does CBD Affect Your Body?

The way marijuana affects your body varies from person to person as it will often depend on genetics, tolerance to the cannabinoids, medical health, DNA, and more. It also depends on the way you consume the CBD, for example, the effects of vaping CBD are far different to smoking it in the form of high-CBD cannabis strains.

CBD and the way it affects us is still of somewhat a mystery to researchers they still try to figure out how it effects the EndoCannabinoid system. During the previous century, it was discovered that our bodies have receptors within the brain and central nervous system. Specific cannabinoids such as CBD bind to those receptors and activate the EndoCannabinoid System (ECS). This then provides a wide range of psychological and physical benefits helping the body.

Without going into specifics, cannabinoids signal to the body to create endocannabinoids and build more receptors. This helps the body to limit things associated with pain and inflammation, repairs cells and provides a wide range of other health benefits. Unlike other cannabinoids, CBD is thought to be the ultimate anti-inflammatory cannabinoid.

Medical Benefits of CBD

There is a misconception as to whether CBD can help treat patients, similar to pharmaceutical medicine, but thanks to the internet and a few different medical studies patients and researchers have been exposing their findings on how CBD oil is helping to cure a wide range of medical conditions.

The most popular story was the one of Charlotte Figi. At the time Charlotte was only 6 years old. As a little girl, she was experiencing over 300 epileptic seizures per week until she was successfully treated by a CBD-rich strain oil, later named Charlotte’s Web.

The high-quality CBD oil, changed her life, helping her to overcome a 6-year battle. Since her story hit the news, CBD and other cannabinoids of the cannabis plant are constantly being researched to understand how they can help to treat different medical conditions. As a matter of fact, CBD has been thought to help treat over 170 medical conditions, among them severe conditions such as Anorexia, Cancer, Arthritis, Depression, Anxiety, Chronic Pain, Insomnia, Glaucoma, multiple sclerosis and PTSD.

Recent studies have even shown that CBD, may cure life-threatening diseases by altering genes. Other studies have proven that it might even be an effective treatment for osteoarthritis and chronic pain.

The way that CBD works is that it interacts with receptors located in different parts of the central nervous system. These receptors are called CB1 and CB2. Both reflect the areas of the brain they interact with such as the limbic system. When taking CBD, this cannabinoid locks in on these receptors and affects the body in different ways. For example, it can help to block the pain caused by specific medical conditions.

While numerous studies have shown promising results, it is important to understand that CBD research is still at premature stages. A 2011 study that researched CBD for fibromyalgia showed extremely promising results. 56 of 112 participants who took CBD in the form of oil saw a great reduction in their symptoms and pain, while those using traditional methods didn’t see hardly any improvement.

Can you Buy CBD if you live in an illegal state?

The process is not cut-&-dry, and but thanks to the Farm Bill of 2014, forms of CBD can now be delivered to your doorstep. Those that live in recreational states can purchase CBD cannabis oil which is high in potency and extremely effective for helping to treat severe medical conditions, while those that live in other states that are not medical or recreational can benefit from CBD hemp oil. CBD Hemp oil is perfect for helping to treat a wide range of conditions including anxiety, depression and acute pain.

Who is NaturalWellNessCBDOil?

My name is Jonathan, and I’ve created this loving resource that is packed with information about CBD oil. I am growing a community on Facebook and are constantly engaging with different people to help them make more informed decisions. I review products on a daily basis and provide unbiased reviews about some of the top CBD oil manufacturers. All the information on the site is FREE; I only ask that you help to share the information you find on the site with other people that are suffering.

To your health and happiness.

About Us

NaturalWellNessCBDOil provides you with recommendations of CBD Oil Producers that we’ve thoroughly tested and would recommend you to use. Our recommendations are based on real life experiences. Our goal is to provide you with unbiased information. Please read through all the reviews before you make any decisions.